This research explores whether digital records created and used in environments without explicit record-keeping rules provide evidence of the organization that creates them and can be preserved in the long term. I studied the formation process of a digital archive that belonged to a philanthropic organization in Argentina. This archive originated in the late 1980s and was added to until 2005, a period during which, as information technologies were being massively adopted in the work-place, new problems were compounded by the nature and conditions of its electronic records and database systems. The study revealed knowledge about the information technologies and social practices used in the archive's development, providing an understanding of the path from its past to its present form and insights about how to preserve it. The attributes characterizing this archive led to developing the concept of a natural electronic archive. To determine whether the records in the natural archive reflect the organization that created them I devised an inductive appraisal method that uses text mining, social network analysis, and visualization methods. I calculated the similarity between the text records created, gathered, and shared by them within frameworks of time and provenance as a measure of the strength of the relationships between staff members and the functions that they represented. Results of mining electronic text records belonging to 10 years of activities in the organization indicate that it is possible to observe changes in work-dynamics and roles in a way that goes beyond the typical organizational chart. The process and challenges involved in developing and validating the appraisal method are reported in this dissertation. Studying the archive's formation process allowed gaps in the technical documentation to be filled and suggested a preservation strategy. The goal of the strategy is to preserve the structure and context in which the electronic records and databases were created and used, while moving them into a new and compatible technical environment to allow continuous access. From a practical perspective the strategy allows studying the effects of hardware and software migration on file formats and databases present in the digital archive. From a broader perspective it aims to provide a theoretical understanding of the relationship that exists between digital information creation and use and preservation strategies. / text

With the development of internet and the trend of information system technology, the object of digital library research has extended to the application of digital archives. Basically, digital libraries store huge amounts of data, including text, image, map audio, video and illustration via electronic formats. Further more, digital libraries could be conveniently accessed through the Internet. As the research intention of network information systems, the critical technology in digital library research could be how to let users effectively harvest correct information from the digital library. Digital library users could discover, present, and organize knowledge among these data of digital libraries. The traditional library automation system, related applying technologies and protocols, such as MARC, Z39.50 and ISO 2709, could not totally match the requirement of digital archives. The purpose of this research is to find out how to effectively manage and apply the related technology of digital archive to handle the existing operation processes in library and the management requirement of digital archives. This paper discusses an evolution model of the related technology of library automation systems.

No description available.

This thesis examines the past, present and future development and nature of Aboriginal archives and archiving in British Columbia, set in Canadian and international perspective. The thesis focuses on Aboriginal archives in BC because the higher number of First Nations there than elsewhere in Canada makes it one of the most prominent and important areas of Aboriginal archiving activity in the country. The thesis begins with an introduction to the holistic ways in which Aboriginal people in Canada traditionally recorded, preserved, and communicated knowledge and history over time, and thus the methods by which they “archived” up to the mid-twentieth century, in contrast to and compared with Euro-Canadian traditions of archiving. It then goes on to explore the various forces that directly and indirectly disrupted the processes by which Aboriginal culture and knowledge, and thus memory and identity, were transmitted from one generation to the next. As a result of these forces, and the inevitable intertwining of Aboriginal and Euro-Canadian cultures and worldviews, Aboriginal people increasingly found themselves having to access Euro-Canadian archives or establish their own along similar lines. In BC, where historically very few treaties were signed, the documentation created in the context of land claims and treaty negotiations in particular meant that such records were couched in occidental rather than Aboriginal people’s own cultural terms and thus demanded corresponding storage and use methods. Thus, the thesis suggests that such new approaches to Aboriginal archives and archiving were a “reactionary” or defensive response to legal, political, and social requirements and forces, rather than simply as a basis for communicating and recording a traditionally “holistic” sense of culture, memory, and identity. And, as will be seen, this reactionary response was not limited to BC, but would reveal itself concurrently in the rest of Canada, and in other colonised countries such as Australia and the United States. With the results of a questionnaire responded to in Australia, Canada, and the U.S., the thesis then presents comparative national and international approaches to, experiences with, and views on Aboriginal archives and archiving. With these explorations in hand, the thesis concludes with the suggestion that Aboriginal archiving is now coming full circle, returning to its holistic roots, having been positively influenced by the power inherent in the reactionary approach, but also newly challenged with varying issues. At the same time, Aboriginal archiving has challenged and contributed to a redefinition of traditional, Euro-Canadian notions of archiving, and thus pushed the boundaries of archiving as we know it.

Musicking is to take part in the creation of music, as defined by musicologist Christopher Small. Whether by performing, listening, producing, or organizing, musicking encompasses all of the activities that surround making music. This shift to addressing the activities of music-making, and not the music itself, is similar to the modern approach to archival appraisal where it is not the records themselves that are appraised, but rather the activities of their creator. By applying Small’s term to making music, a wider lens in which to evaluate the archival value of music records is established. Through that lens this thesis identifies the functions of musicking to be considered when appraising and acquiring archival records, places those functions within the larger Canadian society for context, and examines particular archival collections in Manitoba as a case study to begin developing a strategy in which Manitoba’s musicking records can be preserved for future generations.

This thesis examines the past, present and future development and nature of Aboriginal archives and archiving in British Columbia, set in Canadian and international perspective. The thesis focuses on Aboriginal archives in BC because the higher number of First Nations there than elsewhere in Canada makes it one of the most prominent and important areas of Aboriginal archiving activity in the country. The thesis begins with an introduction to the holistic ways in which Aboriginal people in Canada traditionally recorded, preserved, and communicated knowledge and history over time, and thus the methods by which they “archived” up to the mid-twentieth century, in contrast to and compared with Euro-Canadian traditions of archiving. It then goes on to explore the various forces that directly and indirectly disrupted the processes by which Aboriginal culture and knowledge, and thus memory and identity, were transmitted from one generation to the next. As a result of these forces, and the inevitable intertwining of Aboriginal and Euro-Canadian cultures and worldviews, Aboriginal people increasingly found themselves having to access Euro-Canadian archives or establish their own along similar lines. In BC, where historically very few treaties were signed, the documentation created in the context of land claims and treaty negotiations in particular meant that such records were couched in occidental rather than Aboriginal people’s own cultural terms and thus demanded corresponding storage and use methods. Thus, the thesis suggests that such new approaches to Aboriginal archives and archiving were a “reactionary” or defensive response to legal, political, and social requirements and forces, rather than simply as a basis for communicating and recording a traditionally “holistic” sense of culture, memory, and identity. And, as will be seen, this reactionary response was not limited to BC, but would reveal itself concurrently in the rest of Canada, and in other colonised countries such as Australia and the United States. With the results of a questionnaire responded to in Australia, Canada, and the U.S., the thesis then presents comparative national and international approaches to, experiences with, and views on Aboriginal archives and archiving. With these explorations in hand, the thesis concludes with the suggestion that Aboriginal archiving is now coming full circle, returning to its holistic roots, having been positively influenced by the power inherent in the reactionary approach, but also newly challenged with varying issues. At the same time, Aboriginal archiving has challenged and contributed to a redefinition of traditional, Euro-Canadian notions of archiving, and thus pushed the boundaries of archiving as we know it.

Musicking is to take part in the creation of music, as defined by musicologist Christopher Small. Whether by performing, listening, producing, or organizing, musicking encompasses all of the activities that surround making music. This shift to addressing the activities of music-making, and not the music itself, is similar to the modern approach to archival appraisal where it is not the records themselves that are appraised, but rather the activities of their creator. By applying Small’s term to making music, a wider lens in which to evaluate the archival value of music records is established. Through that lens this thesis identifies the functions of musicking to be considered when appraising and acquiring archival records, places those functions within the larger Canadian society for context, and examines particular archival collections in Manitoba as a case study to begin developing a strategy in which Manitoba’s musicking records can be preserved for future generations.

The Lee Valley Industrial Heritage Electronic Archive (LVIHEA) is a model record of industrial buildings composed as a composite of multimedia data files relevant to the interpretation of the region's dynamic industrial environment. The design criteria concerning natural, human and artificial resources are applicable to education and heritage management strategies. The prototype model was evaluated in terms of its efficacy and effectiveness with designated user groups. The developed model will enable qualitative and quantitative analyses concerning the economic, social and industrial history of the region. It can be used as a pedagogic tool for instruction in the principles of structured data design, construction, storage and retrieval, and for techniques of data collection. Furthermore the data sets can be closely analysed and manipulated for interpretative purposes. Chapter one attempts to define the Lee Valley in terms of its geographic, historical, economic and societal context. The aims and resources of the project are outlined and the study is placed in the bibliographic context of similar studies. Thereafter it addresses the processes leading to and a description of the structure of the prototype model. A paper model is presented and the data structures conforming lo or compatible with established planning, archiving and management protocols and strategies are described and evaluated. Chapter two is a detailed description and rationale of the archive's data files and teaching and learning package. It outlines procedures of multimedia data collection and digitisation and provides an evaluative analysis. Chapter three looks at the completed prototype and reviews the soft systems methodology approach to problem analysis used throughout the project. Sections examining the LVIHEA in use and the practical issues of disseminating it follow. The chapter concludes by reviewing the significance of the research and indicates possible directions for further research. The survey is artifact rather than document led and begins with the contemporary landscape before "excavating" to reveal first the recent and then the more distant past. However, many choices for inclusion are necessarily reactive rather than proactive in response to the regular "crises" where conservation is just one consideration in a complex development. Progressive strategies are sometimes sacrificed for the immediate opportunity to record information concerning an artifact under imminent threat of destruction. It is acknowledge that the artefact (building) would usually disappear before its associated documentation and that therefore it was imperative to obtain as much basic detail as possible about as many sites as possible. It is hoped that greater depth can be achieved by tracking down the documentation to its repositories when time permits. Amenity groups had already focussed their attention on many of the more "interesting" sites and every opportunity was taken to incorporate their findings into the LVIHEA. This study provides an insight into the cycle of development and decline of an internationally important industrial landscape. It does so in a structured environment incorporating modem digital technology while providing a framework for continuing study.

Thesis (PhD) - Marketing and International Studies, Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology, 2008. / "Public lecture for the National Archives of Australia, presented in Canberra ... 15 May 2007."-t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 174-215).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.